SF Giants Gameday podcast: Time is running out for the Giants to take control of NL wild card race

After rebounding from back-to-back shutout losses with one of their best performances of the season on Sunday in Oakland, the Giants believed a 14-2 win over the first-place A's was the start of a push to take control of the National League wild card race. The Giants had won 13 of their last 16 at Oracle Park and returned home Monday with a huge sense of optimism as they opened a four-game set against the Colorado Rockies. That sense, and nearly every good feeling about the Giants' playoff chances, disappeared early as starting pitcher Johnny Cueto turned in one of his worst outings as a member of the organization in a 7-2 loss. Cueto didn't have command of his pitches and the Giants' offense didn't trouble Rockies right-hander German Márquez in a disappointing series-opening defeat. The loss won't crush the Giants' playoff chances as they'll wake up on Tuesday 0.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the second wild card spot, but they're running out of time to take control of the race. Manager Gabe Kapler's squad now has to try and play some of its best baseball of the season during the final seven games of the year while also hoping none of the other teams vying for a playoff spot gets too hot. With three games left against a sub-.500 Rockies team and four against a Padres team that's given San Francisco plenty of trouble this year, the Giants know they can't waste any opportunities before the weekend. If they do, their hopes of playing into October will disappear as quickly as their chances of winning Monday's series opener did.